Jason is an agriculture robotics engineer by day and runs movement retreats with his wife (me) on the side. One might think he is just a very supportive husband (which he is 100%) but he also genuinely sees the value dance can bring to someone’s life and has experienced it firsthand.
This was not always the case. I asked Jason how his relationship with movement evolved over the years (before we started dating)? This is what he had to say…
“When I was young, I was docile and played a lot of video games. Mental health was a challenge and working out became important in high school. It evolved into a growing interest in nutrition and the relationship of physical and mental health. I started to recognize the important connection between the mind and body and looked for tools to optimize this connection for myself. I started to explore yoga and bioenergetics.”
I then asked about his relationship with dance specifically…
“Dance was something I never felt super comfortable with, I would need a few drinks before I could dance in front of people. Upon meeting Clara, I discovered dance in a new light and saw it as another tool to address the mind-body connection challenges. Dance offered more for this connection than the other ways of movement I had explored. Dance is a lot of fun, helping me learn to adapt, be more expressive, more confident and free. It is also really helping me with coordination and fluidity, both of which are very important for any sport and improving mobility.”
“I have learned a lot about myself since exploring dance. When Clara had me explore specific words or prompts through movement it brought me back to memories and places when I was younger…where I could explore movements at a time where I felt more free but also explore times where I wasn't able to express myself back then and rewrite that story for myself through movement. Moving through these words and ideas brought about both laughter and tears. Exploring dance and movement in such a personal way has been a very impactful movement experience.”
We both thought that sharing a bit of his movement story was important because at some point growing up you may have labelled yourself as a "bad dancer" or have used the phrase "I don't dance". Humans are expressive beings and were made to move but there may have been a point in your life that you were told not to dance or maybe decided for yourself that you are no good at it.
What if you allowed yourself to explore movement again without the pressure of it needing to look good? Move as if no one is watching. Move for yourself. Find freedom with movement.